Lord Hunt of Kings Heath: Research findings into the effectiveness of regulations on the development and licensing of orphan medicines are presentedin the Committee for Orphan Medicinal Products (COMP) report to the Commission in relation to Article 10 of Regulation 141/2000 on orphan medicinal products. It includes an assessment of access to these medicines for patients in the different member states, including the United Kingdom.
	The report concludes that while COMP considers that the current legislation framework for orphan medicinal products is suitable overall to achieve public health benefits for patients suffering fromrare diseases, it has identified a number of policy areas that require strengthening. COMP makes six recommendations to stimulate and foster European Union policy and makes three suggestions for action to the European Commission.
	This report is published on the website of the European Medicines Agency under document reference EMEA/35218/2005 available at www.emea.eu.int and is available in the Library.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The Department for Transport (DfT) is working closely with Defra onthe review of the UK air quality strategy, aimed at delivering the shared public service agreement(PSA) targets on air quality. It considers several new measures to reduce emissions of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) from urban traffic. These include tighter Euro-standards for cleaner vehicles, a package of incentives for early uptake of Euro-standards and low-emission vehicles, low-emission zones (LEZs)in London and elsewhere, and support for "soft measures" such as walking and cycling schemes.
	The DfT engages regularly with local authorities via the Low Emissions Strategies Forum, which discusses air quality (including NOx) in urban areas. Seven UK cities are currently planning low-emission zones, with the input and support of the DfT. The DfT and its agencies are also working very closely with TfL on the London low-emission zone. This has included discussing stakeholder issues, running an alternative certification process and annual testing for HGVs, informing individuals and businesses that are likely to be affected, and negotiations on the inclusion of parts of the trunk road network.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: The Department for Transport aims to ensure that noble Lords receivea substantive response to their Written Questions within the deadline. Unfortunately, this is not always possible, as on this occasion, but the department makes every effort to achieve these timescales.

Baroness Amos: The stamping of passports with a six-month no re-entry clause is yet another bureaucratic impediment thathas been imposed by the Sudanese authorities on the operations of humanitarian agencies, particularly international non-governmental organisations (INGOs). This new practice contravenes the UN/Government of Sudan joint communiqué signed on 28 March 2007 which the UK were prominent in helping to secure. This issue was raised, along with other impediments, in the joint communiqué's oversight committee, the first meeting of which was held on 2 May 2007.
	It is difficult to assess the specific impact ofthese new restrictions on the ability of humanitarian agencies to recruit international staff members. It is clear, however, that the cumulative effect of the many bureaucratic impediments faced by INGOs is having a severe impact on agencies' ability to deliver vital aid to the people of Darfur.

Lord Bassam of Brighton: Officials at the Department for Transport discuss contingency planning with Transport for London and London Underground on a regular basis. However, the preparation, contents and implementation of these plans is an operational matter for London Underground.